Homeward bound for British nationals

 

Last year, Corporate Travel Management (CTM) worked with the UK Government’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office to repatriate 38,000 British nationals from 58 countries in just 12 weeks. These travellers were stranded overseas when the UK declared a national lockdown in its bid to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, which has affected us on a global scale.

It was a complex, challenging and fluid project that required a groundbreaking, agile, innovative and sensitive response, as well as inspired leadership. The project was headed up by CTM’s General Manager Northern England and Scotland, Michael Healy, who has since been appointed an OBE (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) on Her Majesty the Queen’s New Year 2021 Honours list.

His appointment was in recognition of the services to support British nationals overseas, which involved bringing home tens of thousands of Brits on 188 charter flights on behalf of the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

The programme involved extensive scenario mapping and planning following initial discussions between the FCDO and Michael Healy back in March about the repatriation of British nationals wishing to return to the UK as a result of the COVID-19 travel restrictions. At that stage, the potential scale of the project was unknown, but what was understood was that, if it were to be a success, it needed to be ground-breaking with new processes and systems put in place in an incredibly short amount of time. The campaign was, indeed, a success, truly demonstrating Michael’s leadership and CTM’s ability to innovate and deliver a large-scale solution at speed.

The repatriation project’s success was also dependent on having a committed, expert and agile team working under Michael’s exceptional leadership. At any one time, Michael was leading between 130 and 180 people from across CTM, all of whom were focused solely on the FCDO’s repatriation project and who were deployed across a shift pattern on a 24-hour rota to mirror that of the FCDO.

Rt Hon Dominic Raab, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, said in a letter to Jamie Pherous, CTM’s Managing Director: “I would like to extend my personal gratitude to you and all your staff who have supported our Charter Repatriation Programme in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The scale of this repatriation effort was unprecedented for all parties. CTM’s ability to find solutions against tight deadlines, and to work in close partnership with the FCDO, were critical to our ability to operate a series of complex flights. I am grateful for the speed and flexibility with which CTM responded, and for your creativity and commitment throughout. Thanks to your efforts, we have successfully bought over 38,000 British nationals back home to the UK. Thank you for being our partner in this historic event.”

In a letter to Debbie Carling, CEO Europe – a Senior FCDO official added: “The CTM team excelled and I am pleased to recognise this achievement. Thank you for all your hard work. The whole CTM staff deserve credit for this. I would like to recognise the personal commitment shown by Michael Healy who spearheaded this operation with the support from your teams in the UK, Australia and the US. “

Receiving the letter about his OBE was an incredibly proud moment for Michael Healy, his family and everyone at CTM. He said: “It was a massive shock initially, but also hugely appreciated. Whilst the honour is in my name, I have accepted it in recognition of all of my colleagues across CTM, FCDO, Crown Commercial Service and our Airline Partners who worked in true partnership to successfully deliver a very challenging programme. Given the nature of the C-19 global pandemic, the project operated at a fast pace and my award would not have been possible without the energy and passion of the wider team who demonstrated such tremendous commitment in contributing to the effective Government response to a national crisis.”